I'm not old - I'm leveled up.

I'm not old - I'm leveled up.

I hear it all the time " Oh, I'm getting old! ".

It's what we all do - we spend the first 20 years of our lives being so excited to "be a grown up" and once we get there, we automatically start counting down to our demise it seems. Seriously?

I am 37 years old, and just starting to feel like my best self now. I'm no where near "old", while I heard some people younger than me yesterday complaining about getting old. That's just silly, no?

See, it's all about perpective.

I don't feel old because I'm not scared to age.

I like to refer to my age as a level, an achievement. I am currently at level 37 in the game of life.

Much like in a video game, the character we play in this world starts at level 0, the day we are born.

From there, we go through all of these adventures which help us gain knowledge, experience, skills and tools in order to become better humans, just like leveling up a character in a video game. Your character becomes stronger, more skills and better at performing certain tasks, etc. Humans are no different - we constantly learn new skills in order to become better at being humans!

Each year, most of us celebrate getting one year older. I like to celebrate is "leveling up".

Each new year means that my character has gotten better at the game of life. I kept myself alive for one more year and gained all sorts of knowledge and experience from all of the things that I accomplished and learned, so I can even more efficiently live this life to the fullest - YAY me! That is what I like to celebrate on my birthday - levelling up as a human. I'm a better human!

So why do we get stuck on the fact that getting older is a BAD thing, a negative? Getting older is good as we become better at being who we are, isn't that a good thing????

Honestly, I don't miss being "young" as I still feel young now. In reality, you are as young as you choose to feel - it's a personal choice. You are choosing your reactions to your body's changes, and you are choosing your attitude about it. Some think that age is a death sentence, a negative consequence of life, but looking at it that way is no way to enjoy life. It's all about perspective - you choose to look at it negatively or positively. Age, to me, is a gift and I'm annually gifted another level for good behavior. I am choosing to look at life like a reward, like a gift that I constantly earn more of.

It's quite magical.

We spend our youth wishing we were grown ups. Then in our 20's, we are finally "grown-ups" but don't know how to deal with it, so that's when we make all sorts of mistakes and learn a LOT of lessons. In our 30s, sometimes we find the comfort zone with it all and start just enjoying life, but sometimes we are stuck fixing the mistakes we made in our 20s. After that, we just keep leveling up but we finally have enough knowledge to get through life. I am 37 years old and I FINALLY feel like I know enough to life my life to the fullest now. I will keep learning, and leveling up, but now I feel like I'm finally "grown up" enough to DO WHATEVER I WANT. Isn't that THE dream? Being a grown up so we can do whatever we want? Well I'm there now, so I'm certainly not old. I'm barely a grown up.

Isn't that amazing? So, why is being "old" a bad thing?

It's not. It means you gained that many years of experience at living your life. You should be proud of your age and all that you have accomplished. We only have one life - we should cherish what it has brought to us, the experience, the wisdom, the knowledge, the memories. It's our life story.

I look at my mother who is 74 years old and never complains about "getting old" or "feeling older" even if she's got a weak leg and has to use a walker to get around. She's perfectly content with exactly who she is, and never complains about getting older and never counts down the years.

When I ask her how she's doing, her reply is always something like "I am feeling amazing today. What a wonderful life I've been given." And then she'll talk about music she's been playing, or books she's been reading, because she wants to learn as much as possible about every topic possible while she is alive and well to do so. She is truly living her life to the fullest. It's amazing and inspires me daily.

While it wasn't always the case for her, or for myself, it's all about learning the habit of positive thinking. I tell you, folks, positivity is the fountain of youth, and the answer to feeling vibrant.

For both my mother and I, life truly changed when we started to describe the moments and events with positive words, instead of choosing to drown in a flow of negative thoughts, which is often easier and comes more natural. Positive thinking is a habit one must form, when we live in such a negative world. I talk to people all the time who are "getting old" and "can't do the things I use to", but they don't realize that by looking at aging like a negative thing, they are causing it to be a negative thing. Always choose your words carefully - your perspective and your words will shape your life and how it flows!! You set the intention with words for how you feel in your body, in your mind and in this life. Choosing to describe "getting older" positively will actually change how it feels!!!

And when I feel "old" or that my body doesn't work as well as I want it to, I simply take the time to breath and ask my body how I can help it feel better. Listen to yourself - your body knows! Sometimes it's eating better, sometimes it's going for a walk, and sometimes it's just getting some rest. I make it a practice to talk positively to my body, thank is for what it does for me and how it can provide for it.

Complaining about getting older will, in itself, age you.

Stay positive about your age, and you will remain young.

Next time you are feeling "old", be aware of your reaction, and ask yourself if you are doing what you need to in order to feel younger in that moment. Don't fall in the trap of "feeling old" as you are only as old as you CHOOSE to feel. It's entirely up to you! Age is a number, getting old is a choice!!

My mother always tells me she will live to be 122 years old, like Jeanne Mance, the world's oldest woman. And I believe this to be possible if only because she is looking at it as a possibility. She believes that she has that many more great years to enjoy, despite all of the reasons why she could sit around feeling old, but chooses not to. She's level 74 and still leveling up with the upmost joy!!!

I will tell you, for me, I have spent 37 years leveling up to have the experience and knowledge that I have now. There is no way that I will sit around and mope about my age, while I'm finally "old enough" to do ANYTHING THAT I WANT IN LIFE. It's time to make all our dreams come true because WE CAN.

Life is a gift, enjoy it to the max!

And remember, beyond the fuzzy clouds, there are always clear skies.

Love,

MarMar